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From
the Editor
Even
when you already
have a reputation as
a tremendous
blowhard who's
demonstrated an
affinity for placing
foot in mouth you
can go too far, and
that's exactly what
Donald Trump did
when he slammed
Mexican immigrants
during his
presidential
campaign
announcement two
weeks ago, stating:
"When Mexico
sends its people,
they're not
sending their
best...They're
sending people who
have lots of
problems," Trump
said. "They're
bringing drugs,
they're bringing
crime, they're
rapists, and some,
I assume, are good
people."
Spanish language
network Univision
was the first to cut
ties with Trump,
ending its deal to
televise Trump's
Miss USA and Miss
Universe beauty
pageants. NBC, which
actually co-owns the
Miss Universe
Organization itself,
followed suit and
cut ties with Trump
after an awkward
period in which the
network reportedly
held intense
internal discussions
on the many PR and
legal issues at
play.
While it's
inarguably the right
move
reputation-wise, NBC
is now in a
precarious situation
from a legal
standpoint. There's
no guarantee they
had a behavior
contract with Trump
as one might for
other celebrities
they feature due to
the working nature
of the relationship
between the network
and the Trump
Organization itself,
and could well be in
for a serious court
battle. Trump, as
usual, has taken the
fight straight into
the public eye,
declaring to anyone
who will listen that
he's coming after
the two networks.
He's already begun
bringing the Brian
Williams situation
into the argument,
declaring "they will
stand behind lying
Brian Williams, but
won't stand behind
people that tell it
like it is, as
unpleasant as that
may be."
Knowing Trump
there's going to be
a lot more
mud-slinging before
this situation is
put to rest, and
while he's pretty
well known as "out
there" he's not so
far out that his
words can't have
serious impact if
they catch on in the
mainstream.
A sticky situation,
and a firm reminder
to be very, very
careful of not only
who you make
business deals with
but also and how you
cover your rear when
it comes to the
contractual side of
things. Trump's too
good at publicity to
let the networks
steer this
completely out of
the public eye, so
we'll be watching
closely to see how
things play out.
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Interested in
reprinting BCM
articles or blog
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We're
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or online!
If you find something
you would like to
reprint, simply submit
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Blogs!
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Do you
have a topic
you'd like to
see featured in
our blogs? Send
an email to erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com
and there's a
good chance
you'll be seeing
it right here in
the next issue!
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| Apropos of
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Make Some Easy
Money
Bernstein
Crisis Management
pays VERY generous
referral
commissions, a
nice chunk of the
first year's
business from any
referred client.
Avoid The
Apology
Clueless
advertising folks at
Anheuser-Busch
eliciting widespread
anger with a Bud
Lite commercial
featuring the
tagline "The perfect
beer for removing
'no' from your
vocabulary for the
night";
Sea
World launching its
disastrous
#askseaworld
campaign, not
thinking through how
that hashtag could
be comically and
sadly hijacked;
Starbucks
kicking off - and
then aborting - its
ill-considered "Race
Together" campaign;
or,
Trevor
Noah, Jon Stewart's
hand-picked
replacement on "The
Daily Show," coming
under fierce online
criticism for
anti-Semitic and
otherwise
insensitive tweets.
So many of
the damaging
crises we see
making headlines
and creating costs
every day could
have been
prevented if
someone first
asked, "What the
(expletive
deleted) could go
wrong with this
idea?" That's the
premise behind
Bernstein Crisis
Management's AvoidTheApology.com.
To learn more,
email erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
Bernsteins
Available to
Deliver Free Guest
Lectures, Q&A
Sessions
Jonathan
alone, or the team
of Jonathan and Erik
Bernstein, are
available at no
charge to deliver
guest lectures and
host Q&A
sessions with
college classes via
Skype or Google
Hangout.
For our
latest
presentation we
had the pleasure
of speaking with
Fred Muir's crisis
communications
class at USC's
Annenberg School
for Communication
and Journalism.
The
lectures are fun for
us and students, and
we're more than
happy to allow
recording for your
future use. All you
need at your end is
a single computer
with webcam and a
strong broadband
connection for us to
appear in your
classroom in
real-time.
Contact
us for more
info!
Attention
Corporate Boards
of Directors (and
those who serve
them).
If
you're connected
with a corporate
board of directors
in some way and
think that board
would benefit from
having a veteran
crisis management
pro amongst its
membership, please
contact me. --
Jonathan
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Business
Announcements
(aka
blatant
self-promotion)
Preparing
Candidates for
C-Suite Interviews
In
2014, a client
familiar with
Jonathan Bernstein's
media training
techniques suggested
that the same
methods would help
her husband, a
candidate for a
C-Suite position at
several companies,
be better focused
and prepared for his
interviews. She was
right and, as he
moved through the
interview process,
the candidate
received a number of
one-hour trianing
sessions by
Jonathan, via
webcam. That
candidate is now the
CFO of a $23 billion
company and is
available as a
confidential
reference.
Are
Your Social
Media Managers
Crisis Trained?
A solid social media
manager has quickly
become a must-have
for organizations of
any size, and can
make an immense
difference by
driving in customers
and building your
positive reputation
online.
The
problem is, the vast
majority are simply
not equipped to even
identify building
crises, much less
take the steps
necessary to cope
with and mitigate
the damage that can
result.
That's where we come
in.
Bernstein
Crisis Management is
now offering crisis
management training
for social media
managers, both
independent and
in-house, as well as
social media firms.
Traditional
Social Media
Training
Want to get your
feet wet with social
media but don't know
where to start?
Maybe you have
accounts, but aren't
sure what to post,
or how to reply?
Being
active on social
media is a must
these days, but you
have to do it right.
Erik Bernstein now
offers social media
training sessions in
person or via Skype
for groups and
individuals.
Expanded Crisis Manager Bookstore
We've
recently expanded
the Crisis Manager
Bookstore to
include offerings
from esteemed
colleagues like
Melissa Agnes,
Gerald Baron,
Chris Syme and Jim
Lukaszewski that
cover topics from
crisis
communication and
traditional PR to
social media and
cutting-edge
crisis
management. We'll
be adding other
authors we admire
in the weeks
ahead.
Visit
the new Crisis
Manager
Bookstore to
see all of the
material available
now!
Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training
Learn how
to deal with
traditional or
social media
during a crisis in
this educational
and entertaining
guide from
Crisis
Manager publisher
Jonathan
Bernstein.
$25 for
hard copy, $10 for
PDF.
Head to the
Crisis Manager
Bookstore
for more
information and/or
to purchase.
Whether
you're a
seasoned
manager,
aspiring
up-and-comer,
or student of
crisis
management,
Jonathan
Bernstein's
textbook,Manager's Guide to Crisis Management will
put you in
control of any
situation.
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Guest
Authors
Guest authors are very welcome to submit material
for "Crisis
Manager." There is
no fee paid, but
most guest authors
have reported
receiving business
inquiries as a
result of
appearing in this
publication. Case
histories,
experience-based
lessons,
commentary on
current news
events and
editorial opinion
are all eligible
for consideration.
Submission is not
a guarantee of
acceptance.
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About Us
 
Jonathan Bernstein
is both publisher of
Crisis Manager and
president of
Bernstein Crisis
Management, Inc., a
national crisis
management public
relations agency
providing 24/7
access to crisis
response
professionals. The
agency engages in
the full spectrum of
crisis management
services: crisis
prevention,
response, planning
& training. He
has been in the
public relations
field since 1982,
following five-year
stints in both
military
intelligence and
investigative
reporting.
Write to Jonathan
at: jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
Erik
Bernstein is vice
president of
Bernstein Crisis
Management. Erik
started with BCM
in 2009 as a
writer and
subsequently
became social
media manager for
the consultancy
itself as well as
for a number of
BCM clients before
moving to the VP
position.
Write to Erik at: erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
Bernstein
Crisis
Management,
Inc. is
located at 700
S. Myrtle
Ave., #404,
Monrovia, CA
91016.
Telephone: (626) 825-3838.
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Legal
Disclaimer (aka
the small print)
All information contained
herein is obtained
by Jonathan
Bernstein from
sources believed
by Jonathan
Bernstein to be
accurate and
reliable.
Because of the possibility
of human and
mechanical error
as well as other
factors, neither
Jonathan Bernstein
nor Bernstein
Crisis Management
is responsible for
any errors or
omissions. All
information is
provided "as is"
without warranty
of any kind.
Bernstein Crisis
Management and
Jonathan Bernstein
make no
representations
and disclaim all
express, implied,
and statutory
warranties of any
kind to the user
and/or any third
party including,
without
limitation,
warranties as to
accuracy,
timeliness,
completeness,
merchantability,
or fitness for any
particular
purpose.
Unless due to willful
tortuous
misconduct or
gross negligence,
Jonathan Bernstein
and Bernstein
Crisis Management
shall have no
liability in tort,
contract, or
otherwise (and as
permitted by law,
product
liability), to the
user and/or any
third party.
Under no circumstance shall
Bernstein Crisis
Management or
Jonathan Bernstein
be liable to the
user and/or any
third party for
any lost profits
or lost
opportunity,
indirect, special,
consequential,
incidental, or
punitive damages
whatsoever, even
if Bernstein
Crisis Management
or Jonathan
Bernstein has been
advised of the
possibility of
such damages.
A service of this
newsletter is to
provide news
summaries and/or
snippets to
readers. In such
instances articles
and/or snippets
will be reprinted
as they are
received from the
originating party
or as they are
displayed on the
originating
website or in the
original article.
As we do not write
the news, we
merely point
readers to it,
under no
circumstance shall
Bernstein Crisis
Management or
Jonathan Bernstein
be liable to the
user and/or any
third party for
any lost profits
or lost
opportunity,
indirect, special,
consequential,
incidental, or
punitive damages
whatsoever due to
the distribution
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even if Bernstein
Crisis Management
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Bernstein has been
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possibility of
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Authors of the
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corrections to
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shall be printed
at the discretion
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case-by-case
basis.
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